


the proposal

by killmongersgurl



Series: redeemed!softboi [4]
Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-20 17:00:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17026605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killmongersgurl/pseuds/killmongersgurl





	the proposal

Erik liked to watch you sleep.

It was never strange for him to do this, especially a warm summer night such as this. He would envelop you in his strong arms no matter how hot it was, allowing you to feel every bit of his naked body as sweat developed in the space between your melded flesh, as if the memory of the intimacy you shared with him was its cue. That moisture always felt about as sticky and nasty as the stiff warmth of his bedroom, and it always made you complain about him hugging you so close when it was so hot. Yet it always felt so good. Knowing that this sweat, paired with the thick and almost unbreathable air that surrounded you both was a direct result of just how hard you had fucked, always made a strange sense of pride course through his veins.

It felt like comfort and familiarity—like  _home_ ; a solace he had been so sure he would never be given a chance to experience.

The summer heat had been too much for him the first night you slept over after sex. This surprised him. He had never been much of a cuddler, preferring to sleep as far from his partner as comfortably possible if he allowed them to stay, but you certainly were. He indulged your cuddling tendencies because you were cute and he ultimately found that you were pretty nice to hold. The more he held you, the less he wanted to leave the feeling of your plush body.  _It was so strange_ , but he actually had to force himself to pull away from you in the middle of the night. He stood, pulled some basketball shorts on, and sat at his desk just to watch you sleep.

This continued for the next couple of nights you slept over after sex, simply because he needed to make sure that you were real. He needed to ponder on exactly what the two of you meant, especially when you had him finding comfort in some shit like cuddling. For some reason, he found that he could only do this pondering in the still of the night, as he watched you snort and groan as drool dried up on your cheek. He would sit, think, and watch before sneaking back into bed and taking you back into his arms before you woke up.

He stopped once he finally became accustomed to the fact that you had him. It scared the shit out of him at first, but the fact remained: he was entirely yours, just as much as you were his.  _You had him_ , and he was okay with this. So he slept through those warm summer nights that followed, ignoring the way you complained about the sweat and heat, and holding you close until you fell asleep in his arms.

But Erik was wide awake tonight. He sat at his desk with a pair of basketball shorts on, resting his elbows on his thighs as he watched you sleep. It had nothing to do with sweat or heat. Not tonight.

He glanced at his phone.

 _2:03 AM_ , it read.

A soft scoff slipped past his lips as he shook his head, his eyes returning to you. “No more thug life, nigga,” he muttered.

The sound of your low groan made him straighten his back. It made him wonder just how long he had been away from you and sitting at his desk. He leaned forward in his seat to watch you a bit closer as you shifted underneath the thin sheet that barely covered your form, your hand reaching for the space behind you.

A little smile touched his lips. You were searching for him.

As you slowly awoke from your slumber, he became all too aware of just how warm it really was in his bedroom tonight. He could feel that lone drop of sweat sliding down his jaw, along with the dryness of his throat that begged for water once he caught the sight of your fluttering eyes. You offered him a little smile, one that he found difficult to return. He was frozen, because even though your bonnet slid off and you had a trail of dried up drool on your face, you were still the baddest thing he’d ever laid eyes on. So he simply continued to watch.

You pushed yourself to sit up with a soft groan, his eyes following as you fisted the sheet above your breasts to keep yourself covered. He rolled his tongue to keep himself from chuckling. That sheet was practically invisible to him. He had seen every bit of you up close and personal and never grew tired of it, and he knew that he never would. He honestly didn’t even understand why you bothered sleeping with it if you were so hot all the time.

“What time is it?” you asked.

“Two.”

Your mouth fell open. “In the morning?”

Erik nodded.

“Damn.” The corners of your full lips turned down to form a little frown, one that he wanted to kiss away. He hated to see you upset, especially if it was because of him. You rubbed at your eyes. “What’s wrong, baby?”

He shook his head, his eyes trailing up and down the outline of your body peaking through that fucking blanket. He wanted to tear it off of you. He wanted to watch all that sweat you always complained about slide along the soft curves and rolls of your body. He just wanted to see you.

Erik looked away with another shake of his head, forcing himself to relax. You were incredibly distracting whether you knew it or not, and now was not the time. He needed to focus. “Nothing’s wrong, princess.”

It was your turn to watch him. He could practically feel your eyes hovering over his form as a moment of silence passed between the two of you. You sighed. “Well, why are you all the way over there? You should be over here, with me.”

“Thought I made you hot.”

“I like the way you make me hot. I like the way you make me sweat even more.”

“You always complain.”

“Only because it makes you hold me tighter.”

A little hiss escaped him as he clamped his eyes shut. You were attempting to entice him into coming back to bed—back to  _you_ —and it was working. He knew the affect he had on you. He wasn’t blind to how attracted you were to him, especially since the attraction was mutual, but the way that  _he_  was attracted to  _you_? And the way that  _you_  made  _him_  feel? He was miles past just being sprung, because all you had to do was smile and his dick twitched. All you had to do was tell a joke and his dick twitched. All you had to do was snort while laughing and his dick twitched. All you had to do was be yourself and his dick fucking twitched.

He just couldn’t allow that tonight. He wouldn’t.

“I can’t afford to get distracted.”

You released another sigh. It was slow and patient. “Distract you from what, baby?”

Hesitation racked Erik’s entire being before he finally opened his eyes. He didn’t look to your body or to your eyes, but to your left hand. He watched with bated breath as you looked to the ring decorating your finger. The very ring you had always gushed to your girlfriends about and hoped to receive. It had been sitting in his car for a month, hidden from you because he was too much of a punk to present it to you while you were wide awake. So he slipped it onto your finger instead, admiring the way it sparkled against your brown skin as you slept.

Fuck. He was soft.

A little smile touched your lips, one that made his heart stop. You released your grip on the blanket and stretched your fingers out to get a closer look. “Another gift? What did I tell you about turning me into a spoiled—“

Your mouth fell open. You whipped your head up to meet his eyes across the room.

“I told you to let me deal with that.”

“Are— Are you serious?”

Your voice was quiet and almost shy, a sort of tenderness that he wasn’t used to hearing from you. He found that he liked it. “I wouldn’t joke about this. Not with you.”

The sound of chirping crickets touched his ears as you watched each other in silence. He couldn’t remember a time when the two of you had been so somber and serious with one another. He wanted alleviate the heaviness of it all and make it lighter, but he couldn’t control the way his eyes bore into your wide ones.

“You— You wanna—“ You swallowed hard. “You wanna… marry me?”

It took everything within Erik to keep himself from grinning at your dumbstruck face. The life he led before meeting you didn’t allow him the luxury of fantasizing about marriage, much less about proposing to a woman. But then  _he met you_ and you shook shit all the way up. He didn’t know how to do this or if there was even a proper way, but this felt right and even more than perfect to him. This was the  _we_  and the  _us_  that he was proud to share with you.

He nodded. “I wanna marry you.”

The corners of your mouth twitched upward. It was such a little smile, one that he probably wouldn’t have even noticed if he didn’t know you so well. It was also full of nervousness that prompted him to stand and make his way over to you. He sat on the bed before you and took your face into his hands, while you immediately grabbed for his wrists. The sheet slid down a little, allowing him to see those stretch marks he loved to kiss and lick, but he paid no mind to this. He was no longer distracted.

Erik had come so far, and grew so much, and endured all that he had endured, just so he could make it  _here_. And he was yours. All yours, just as much as you were his.

He kissed you, and you immediately melted into him with a soft moan. His lips moved slowly and patiently with yours, simply because he needed you to know that he was okay with whatever decision you made, but was too afraid to say it. He bit into your bottom lip, sucking so gently that you couldn’t help the weak sound that slipped past your throat. He gave a low groan of his own before pulling away to watch as your eyes slowly fluttered open.

You watched as he wiped your lips with the padding of his thumb. You held his wrists tighter. “You wanna make an honest woman out of me?”

“I wanna make you my wife.” The little smile you gave him encouraged him. “I wanna be the one to make you happy every day for the rest of our lives. I wanna get God involved in this shit— Fuck, I shouldn’t have said that—  _Damn_. This sounded better in my head—“

You sat up, shaking your head. “It sounds just as good out loud. Keep going. Please.”

He took a moment to watch you before placing a kiss onto your forehead. He took in a sharp breath and shut his eyes. “You the best thing that’s ever happened to me, princess. Greatest thing that’s ever been mine. I meant it when I said that I wanted to get God involved in this shit. I want this. I want you forever, princess. I just need to know if you want this, too.”

You sniffled as you watched him, a stuttered breath escaping you when he met your eyes.

“You gon’ let me make you my queen?”

“Erik, baby.” Your voice was warbling and a bit uneven as you struggled to keep the tears from falling. You quickly shut your eyes. “You know I want this, and you know I want you—“

He kissed you again, harder this time. He could feel the wetness on your cheeks. He never liked to see you cry, but this was more than okay. “You gon’ marry me?”

“ _Yes_ , baby—“

He kissed you one last time, right before you pulled away from his lips. You finally released your grip on his wrists to frantically wipe at your cheeks as the tears fell freely. You groaned, sniffling as your shoulders shook uncontrollably.

“Damn, nigga!” A choked sob slipped past your lips. “You woke me— You woke me up at two in the morning, all  _sweating_  and shit,   _just_  to make me fucking cry! Fuck you!”

That was honestly all Erik needed to hear. He already knew that you were the one, but that right there just cemented it all for him.

He wrapped his arms around you with a low chuckle at that, hugging you close as you cried into his neck.


End file.
